The Intercession of Moses
When Job says, (chap. xiii. 15.) “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” it is certainly a very wonderful sentiment, whether we consider it as the language of resignation or that of confidence.
It certainly, first, implies a resignation, without any reserve, to all that the Lord might further choose to lay upon him. And this can only be regarded as an easy matter by those who do not understand it. “Poor Job,” it might be said, “it is easy to talk; but from whence wilt thou derive the necessary strength for the fulfilment?”
To this he might reply, “Ought I not to hope in him? What should induce me to give up my hope? Should the greatness, the violence, or the duration of my sufferings? They only compel me to it the more that every other support is taken away. A seaman may cut cable and mast, and throw gold and silver overboard to save himself; he will not, however, part with his compass, but retain it to the last. And should the waters come into my soul, and the floods o-o over my head, should I not hope in him, who can allay every storm? Ought my sins to prevent me? ‘If I have sinned, what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men V But do not they compel me to hope in his mercy, the less of merit I possess, and to cleave the more firmly unto him, who is made unto me righteousness, the less I can discover of any righteousness, of my own; and to trust the more fully to his atoning sacrifice, the less I can atone for anything myself? Shall my poverty prevent me from trusting in him, which renders his riches the more needful to me, and compels me to lay the more urgent claim to his royal generosity? Should sickness restrain me from trusting in him? Does it not compel me the more to have recourse to the physician who invites me to come, the more fatal and incurable my disease? Should unbelief hinder me? Who should teach me to believe, unless he does it? or my inability and boundless misery, since I require him so much on that very account? No, I will still continue to trust in him. In whom else should I trust?”
Thus he presses the more closely to the Lord, the more numerous the things which would deter him from doing so.
Thus Moses also acted, as we shall see in our present meditation.
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ExoD. xxxiv. 8, 9.
“And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
“And he said, if now I have found grace in thy sight, 0 Lord I let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us, (for it is a stiff-necked people,) and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.”
We have contemplated the occurrences at Mount Sinai in a two-fold point of view; first, the people’s sin; and secondly, their forgiveness through the mediation of Moses. Let us now consider the latter, after having made some remarks on the former.
The children of Israel sinned against God by making a golden calf, with which they practised idolatry. Every one, however, ought to ascertain which is the calf, the earthly, sinful animal, or even brutish object with which he also practices idolatry. Let no one suppose this has no reference to him; for although it may not be the case in a gross external sense, yet let him be on his guard, lest he be entangled in a more subtle sense, in a deeper and more dangerous idolatry.
Though it may be something uncommon for any one to be so senseless as to affirm that there is no God, since the contrary is much too deeply impressed on human nature, yet so much the more common is it for people to act as if there were no God, no judgment, and no eternity. If they were really persuaded of the fact, they would also act differently; for a belief and an assent which produces no influence on ‘the human mind, is of no value, and is equivalent to a denial.
But the Scriptures speak of another idolatry, besides that which is grossly heathenish. They speak of those whose God is their belly, and who regard the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life as the supreme good, but whose end, as saith the Apostle, is destruction. The Holy Scriptures speak also of the idolatry of covetousness. Therefore he who is €Ovetous and greedy of gain, is guilty of idolatry; and this species of idolatry is principally carried on in the mercantile world, whose chief object is gain; for whilst other stations in life are limited to something definite,’ the whole world is, so to speak, open to this. And how many rich mercantile houses have we seen in our day, who by grasping with their insatiate desires, that which they had not, have paid for it by the loss of what they possessed. And how many tricks and deceptions, artifices and stratagems, are regarded as allowable, which are most injurious to the soul; for no covetous man shall inherit the kingdom of God, any more than a murderer or a blasphemer.
Men also make a god of themselves; that is, they love themselves above every thing, and more than God himself. They make themselves, their own will,, their pleasure, honour, and advantage their chief object, to which every thing else is subjected, and for which, if necesssary, they are ready to give up every thing, even God and his fellowship. Every confidence which a man places in himself is nothing but a subtle idolatry, and is no less culpable than that which is more gross. And thus, though there may be no more golden calves and idols, the idolatry which is practised in the world
198 THE INTERCESSION OF MOSfiS.
is still great and very frequent. The world and its lusts are the idols of the men of the world, and about these they dance, like the Israelites around their golden calf.
Nor will they suffer their sins, in this respect, to be placed before them, but seek a variety of excuses and evasions; even as Adam did, who laid all the blame upon his wife, and wished his Maker himself to share in it, by saying, “the woman that thou gavest me” But he that hides his transgression shall not prosper. If on the contrary, “we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.” Thus Aaron sought to exculpate himself, when Moses reproved him, and said, “What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?” Instead of humbling himself before God, he abases himself before his brother, and says, “Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot, thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief.” As if that were any sufficient reason for his encouraging them in it! He also wishes it to be thought he had acted very innocently. “I required their gold of them,” says he, “I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” Truly, God had reason to say to the people, ‘* not on account of thy righteousness and the integrity of thy heart dost thou go up to possess the land, seeing that thou art a stiff-necked people.” Jesus had good ground for calling mankind crooked and perverse, and David for praying to be divested of every false way. He that considers how much is implied in a pure and sincere heart, will not easily boast af possessing one. A single eye fills the whole body with light; but an evil eye with darkness. The heart of man, says Jeremiah, is
“deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” Hence David prays, “Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Moses had undertaken, as mediator of the old covenant, to make the attempt to atone for the sins of the people. This was no easy matter, but he did not cease until he had wrought out a complete forgiveness. He first fell upon his face, and continued lying in this manner, incredible as it may seem, forty days and as many nights before the Lord, without taking any nourishment, certainly a long and serious penance for the people’s sin. ‘* For I was afraid,” says he, (Deut. ix. 19) “of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wrath against you to destroy you.” Moses did this from the impulse of an unspeakable love to his people, which God had enkindled in him, and which went so far, that he prayed, and said, “0, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, forgive iheir sin; but if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book, which thou hast written.” Jesus said to his disciples, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven;” and Moses believed, with reason, that he could thus rejoice, as regarded himself; and this was the ground of his happiness. And yet his love went sp far, that he was willing, for their sakes, even to renounce his salvation. We have a similar instance of such amazing love in a mere man, in the Apostle Paul, who wished that he were accursed from Christ, for the sake of his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh. (Rom. ix. 3.) An incredible degree of affection, which can go so far, as not only to induce the individual to love others as much as himself, but even to venture his soul and salvation for them. But the offer of both was rejected, and Moses received the reply, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” The sufficient sacrifice was reserved to another. Who is not reminded here of Christ’s forty days’ residence in the wilderness, of his falling on his face, his strong- cries and tears, his agony and excessive sorrow: of the wondrous oifering up of himself during the three hours’ darkness and abandonment on the cross, which sacrifice for ever perfected them that are sanctified? He suffered himself to be “made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Moses accomplished something by his first attempt at reconciliation, although but little. God acted towards him in a serious and reserved manner. He gave him to know indeed, that mindful of his oath, he would give them the promised land, but speaks of the people, as if Moses, and not He, had brought them up out of Egypt, and even lets him perceive, that he still retained an inward and restrained wrath, which might break out any moment, for the destruction of the stiff-necked people; he therefore intended to give them a being less holy than himself, a created angel, to be their guide. This estrangement, so devoid of any real fellowship, is quite in accordance with the Old Testament constitution. The Lord acted thus, not with the intention of deterring Moses, but rather to produce a humiliation under his mighty hand; for although he might have spent forty days and forty nights on his face before God, yet all this availed nothing towards the reconciliation of the culpable people; something very different must take place, in order fully to restore a good understanding. Moses was to transfer this
k humiliation to the people; but also with regard to himself, it was to induce him to cleave the more closely to the heart of God.
Accordingly, all this took place. Moses was obliged to say to the people in the name of God, “Ye are a stiff-necked people; I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee. Therefore now put off thine ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.” The people obeyed. At the same time Moses took away the tabernacle out of the camp, and erected it elsewhere, as if the people were not worthy that God should dwell amongst them. Nor did the pillar of cloud and of fire abide over them, but over the tabernacle, without the camp. These must have been anxious days of penitence and expectancy of that which was about to happen;’ and doubtless no one thought of playing and dancing, but rather of sighing and weeping. How must they have lamented their apostacy from God, their perverseness and folly, and have seriously resolved never to offend God again! Such are the manifestations of repentance! It is thus the heart must be rendered contrite and humble; thus must it perceive its unworthiness and culpability. Do you know any thing of this repentance?
When Moses went out unto the tabernacle, all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent-door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle; and the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses, as a man with his friend. Every one then bowed himself, at the entrance of his tent, and entreated the favour of the Lord, according to the sublime example presented by Moses.
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Thus doubtful did matters stand for a period, and the people knew not whether God would act with them according to grace or justice. Their mediator, however, availed himself of the intimate connection in which he stood towards God, to act in their favour, and complained that the conducting of the people was left to him, and yet he knew not whom the Lord would send with him, although he had said, “I know thee by thy name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.” “If I have therefore found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people.” (Exod. xxxiii. 12, 13.) We may imagine with what fervour and urgency Moses interceded, and probably mingled his supplications with many sighs and tears. Thus, the Church complains in Isaiah (lxiii. 15), “Where is thy zeal and thy strength, and the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?” It may seem for a period, and even for a long period, as if every thing was in vain, and as if God had in great wrath shut up his mercy. The night may become increasingly dark and terrific, before the friendly morning breaks, in which the wrestler is caressed, after the dislocation of his thigh. It is certainly no easy and agreeable thing to lose one’s own life in order to find it again for Christ’s sake.
Moses received a favourable answer, which he immediately seized and turned to his advantage. God had previously said, that he would send a mere angel with him, which appeared painful intelligence to all; but now the Lord says, “My -presence shall go with, thee to. guide thee.” The Lord here distinguishes his presence from himself, because there is a plurality in the Divine Being. This presence of God is his Son, the reflection of his glory, and the express image of his person. Moses immediately laid hold of this, and said, “If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence! For wherein shall it be known, that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight, that so we may be distinguished from every other nation upon earth?” The answer was, “I will do this thing also, that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by thy name.”
Thus it happened to Moses according as it is written, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” ♦’ Whatsoever ye ask in prayer; believe, and ye shall receive it.” Here were fulfilled also the astonishing words which we read of Joshua, “and God hearkened to or obeyed the voice of the man.” There are times in which faith has God, so to speak, in its power, and is assured, that it will receive every thing for which it prays; and in which he fulfils the desire of such as fear him, and their hearts are certain that his ear attends to them. How incredibly condescending can the Lord be towards a duly prepared soul! How much may the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avail!
The heart of Moses ws as boundless as the ocean, and his desires as its billows; hence he prayed further, and said, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory!” Wondrous request! In our present state, our eyes cannot even bear to look at the sun in its splendour — how then should a mortal be able to contemplate the glory of his Creator! But such is the nature of the new creature, produced by regeneration in the elect. It is of God, and thirsts and strives for God, and cannot
ki rest until it perfectly possesses and enjoys him. AH concealments and manifestations, all approaching and removing from the heart, all consolation and grieving only excites its ardent longing still more, “Heart and flesh cry out for the living God.” “Have ye not seen him vihom my soul loveth? Tell him I am sick of love.” This new creature, according to Paul’s expression, travails in birth, and longs for the adoption and the redemption of the body. As insatiate as nature is after earthly things, so insatiate is the new nature after the things that are divine.
Do you also perceive in you this longing and thirsting after God, and perfect fellowship with him? or are these strange and surprising things to you? Do you also long to be delivered from the body of sin and death? that God would strengthen you by his Spirit’s might in the inner man? If this be the case, do not fear lest you should not be satisfied; for if you seek the Lord with your whole heart, he will let himself be found of you. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Thou hast said, “Seek ye my face; therefore thy face, Lord, will we seek. Hide not thy face from me, but make me glad with thy countenance!”